BANGOR, Maine — A Monroe man convicted of elver fishing violations more than three years ago was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to 15 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining disability benefits, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Gary D. Hallett, 47, pleaded guilty in May 2015 to one count of failure to report an occurrence of payment.
U.S. District Judge John Woodcock ordered him to begin serving his sentence on June 6.
Hallett remains free on $5,000 unsecured bail.
In addition to prison time, Hallett was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $67,753 in restitution for benefit payments he received between March 2005 and May 2014, according to court documents.
In imposing the sentence, Woodcock admonished Hallett, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a press release.
“I consider your conduct to be deplorable,” he said. “The Social Security program is a reflection of the good faith of the American people. You have been cheating your fellow citizens.”
Hallett came to the attention of investigators in November 2012 when the Bangor Daily News reported that he had been charged with an elver fishing violation, the U.S. attorney’s office said Wednesday in a press release. The BDN also reported that Hallett’s attorney had asked a Knox County judge to delay his trial until after elver fishing season the following year because Hallett had the opportunity to make $200,000 in the upcoming elver season.
Then Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm refused to delay the trial. Hallett was convicted by a jury in December 2012 of fishing for elvers during a closed period, according to a previously published report.
Hallett was fined $750 for that offense and $150 for a related civil elver fishing violation, the report said. The law mandated that Hallett lose his license to fish for elvers for one year. It could not be determined late Wednesday if Hallett now has a license.
Documents filed in federal court did not reveal how much money Hallett earned fishing for elvers that he did not report to the Social Security Administration. They also did not say whether or not he reported that income on his taxes.
Hallett admitted working as a fisherman since he began receiving disability benefits in 2001, according to court documents.
BDN writer Stephen Betts contributed to this report.